http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,131425/article.html
Mobile operator Vodafone faces legal action over its efforts to cripple VoIP on mobile phones.
Peter Judge, Techworld
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
Mobile operator Vodafone could face legal action over its efforts to cripple VOIP on mobile phones.
"We believe Vodafone's stance is not lawful, and we are considering our position," said James Tagg chief executive of Truphone. Vodafone is failing to meet interconnection obligations, and blocking competing websites, he said, as well as disabling Internet telephony on handsets.
Vodafone is refusing to connect calls to Truphone's range of mobile numbers, Tagg says, in breach of telecoms regulation. Truphone has a range of numbers (beginning 07624 000) with which it can function as an actual mobile operator -- so that Truphone numbers appear in a phone's call log, and can receive SMS messages. Unfortunately, Vodafone customers will simply find that calls to those numbers are blocked, whether they are made over WiFi or the Vodafone network, says Tagg.
The operator is also blocking VOIP websites including Skype, to users of its mobile Internet service, says Tag -- a move which would be against E.U. competition regulations, he says: "European telecoms legislation, gives operators an obligation to interconnect, and to offer unfettered access to services."
Vodafone-provided N95s include SIP and Internet telephony, but the Internet telephony is locked so it can't be used, a move which could be illegal, even on subsidized handsets, says Tagg, even though it doesn't prevent users from downloading other VOIP applications which include their own telephony features.
"Customers can download VOIP applications if they choose to do so or can use VOIP services via a laptop and data card," said a prepared Vodafone statement, and other VOIP providers bear this out: "Our service works on Vodafone and Orange," said Gerry O'Prey, chief executive of WiFiMobile, a VOIP company specializing in connecting dual mode phones to business PBXs.
While operators have argued that they have a right to determine the software on subsidized handsets, Tagg claims that the equipment provided by the operator is independent of the contract. Users expecting integrated Internet telephony on an N95 would have grounds under consumer law for sending it back, but Vodafone's duties go beyond that, he says.
In more than half the world, operator subsidy is illegal, said Tagg. So, for instance, Vodafone has promised not to disable Internet telephony on N95s it sells in Australia. Where subsidy is legal, it is restricted, he says: "The operator has a monopoly on the line into your pocket," so it is not allowed to lock down services and create walled gardens. "There is lots and lots of case law that has been fought out on the PC," he said referring to Microsoft's desktop monopoly.
While VOIP services can be downloaded to a crippled N95, they won't be "properly integrated", says Tagg. Using an alternative SIP stack could mean shorter battery life, compared with the Nokia SIP stack: "They've spent two years and millions of pounds ensuring it's integrated into the phone, and optimized for battery life," he said. Integration also allows features like calling a VOIP number back from the phone's call log -- which some analysts reckon is how fifty percent of calls are made.
The complaints go beyond those made last month, that Vodafone and Orange have disabled Internet phone features on the top-end Nokia N95 handsets, making it difficult for users to make cheap calls at Wi-Fi hotspots.
Vodafone has not yet given a response to Truphone's claims that it is blocking interconnection to Truphone numbers. Instead, the operator sent us a statement it made last week (and we referred to it here), on the Nokia N95 issue, arguing that it has disabled Internet telephony for the consumer's protection.
"Vodafone believes that VOIP-over-mobile is not yet a mature service proposition as it does not have guaranteed quality of service, and would fall short of the customer experience demanded of any service we launch," the statement says. "To ensure a solid end-to-end customer experience, this service would require in-depth testing, billing integration and customer service support which is currently not available."
"There is also a misleading perception that VOIP services are "free." This is not the case when it comes to using VOIP over mobile where customers will need to use data connectivity to establish a service. By doing this, there is a risk that customers could incur unnecessary charges when competitive mobile tariffs are likely to be a more cost-effective choice."
[http://www.theregister.co.uk
Orange and Vodafone cripple Nokia's flagship
Nokia N95 handsets supplied by Orange and Vodafone, in the UK, have
had their VoIP capability removed in what looks like a desperate move
by the network operators to defend their voice revenue.
Each operator has their own variant of the software pre-installed on a
phone handset to allow them to pre-load branding or particular
applications they want to promote. But Orange and Vodafone have both
taken this one step further with the N95 and actually removed the VoIP
capability built in to the handset.
What this means is that nicely integrated applications such as
Truphone won't work at all, even though the client appears to install
OK the menus and configuration needed to make VoIP calls just aren't
there.
Truphone have put together a nice comparison video, showing what's
missing. Stand-alone VoIP applications, such as Fring, still work as
they don't require integration, though because of that they don't
offer such a compelling user experience.
In some ways this is entirely unsurprising: the network operator is
subsidising the handset, and so limits the handset to their voice
network. Customers have got used to subsidised handsets being locked
to one network, so this could be seen as a simple extension of that
policy, and there is nothing to stop a customer buying an unlocked
(and unsubsidised) handset.
It is, as James Tagg from Truphone puts it "a removal of customer
choice", and it's hard not to see a parallel with the way network
operators tried to limit WAP browsing to their own walled gardens -
back when the industry thought WAP was going to make money.
Vodafone is saying nothing beyond confirming that the functionality
has been removed.
Orange told us that this was not a policy decision and that future
handsets might, or might not, have VoIP enabled.
Neither company attempted to justify their decision, beyond some
bleating about keeping things simple for customers, so we are left to
conclude that this is just a protectionist measure.
The problem here is that Nokia advertise the N95 as being
VoIP-capable, but the version being sold by Vodafone and Orange isn't,
so some customer confusion is only to be expected. Trading Standards
tell us that anyone who bought an N95 from Orange or Vodafone, on the
understanding that it is VoIP-capable, should talk to Consumer Direct
about possible recourse, and keep us updated of course. (r)
------------------------------
Orange becomes more like bank: launches overdraft facility
Pay ￡1 to get ￡2.50 into debt
By Bill Ray
Published Tuesday 1st May 2007
Mobile phone customers signing up to Orange's new Speakeasy pre-pay
tariff can get themselves ￡2.50 worth of overdraft facility to keep
them connected when their credit runs out, though they'll have to pay
￡1 to sign up for it.
The overdraft facility, branded "Reserve Tank", is part of the new
tariff which also includes three "Magic Numbers" that are only charged
at 15p an hour, and a flat 15p a minute rate for calling anyone else.
Pre-pay systems already put the mobile phone operators in danger of
becoming banks. It's OK in principle for a company to take pre-payment
for one product - phone calls or books, for example. But mobile phone
credit is used for all sorts of things including buying ringtones and
games, downloading music, and entering dodgy TV quizzes.
This makes the mobile phone companies look suspiciously like banks -
they store your money for you and allow convenient access to buy
things. The only thing they don't do is pay interest.
If the mobile networks became banks they'd have to sign up to the
banking code of practice and open their accounts to a lot more
scrutiny. The UK's financial services regulator has been very cautious
about imposing more regulation on such a dynamic industry. But if
companies are offering overdrafts, this will draw attention to the
fact that they are operating as banks in all but name.
Perhaps if they were banks they could start paying interest. (r)
______________________________
[wikipedia] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki
The Nokia N95 is a smartphone/multimedia computer produced by Nokia.
It was unveiled in September 2006 and was released in mid-March 2007.
It is based on S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 1 software on the Symbian
OS (v9.2) and is particularly significant for being Nokia's first
HSDPA handset. It is part of the company's Nseries.
On March 22, 2007 Nokia announced that the N95 started shipping in key
European, Asian and Middle Eastern markets. The N95 was released in
Australia, during the third week of April 2007, and will be available
with most carriers.[1].
Nokia N95 handsets supplied by Orange and Vodafone in the UK have had
the VoIP facility removed from the phone to the annoyance of many
users. Vodafone's explanation for removing the facility was that "it
doesn't believe it's a mature technology".
